Abstract

The hippocampus plays an important role in the
encoding and retrieval of spatial and non-spatial memories.
Much is known about the anatomical, physiological and
molecular characteristics as well as the connectivity and
synaptic properties of various cell types in the hippocampal
circuits [1], but how these detailed properties of individual
neurons give rise to the encoding and retrieval of memories
remains unclear. Computational models play an instrumental
role in providing clues on how these processes may take place.
Here, we present three computational models of the region CA1
of the hippocampus at various levels of detail. Issues such as
retrieval of memories as a function of cue loading, presentation
frequency and learning paradigm, memory capacity, recall
performance, and theta phase precession in the presence of
dopamine neuromodulation and various types of inhibitory
interneurons are addressed. The models lead to a number of
experimentally testable predictions that may lead to a better
understanding of the biophysical computations in the
hippocampus.